Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Another way to look at the 70.3 results

Here's what athlete tracker has to say. They calculate speed based on 90 K and that's not true. It's weird looking at the non-metric pace units.

Went for a walk yesterday and looked at all the broken branches from the big wind the other night. Just as well that rain and wind hadn't happened the night before, or there would have been expensive bikes scattered from hell to breakfast, and a lot of unhappy athletes. It's been pouring buckets pretty well ever since. I'm still hoping to get out for a walk and do some stretching. Any easy spin is likely to have to be done on the trainer. In August. Boooooo!

I feel great overall, and my legs are pretty good, though I can still feel some fatigue. There's a bit of a twinge in my left hams and calf. My resting heart rate is back to normal. The blister is behaving itself.

I've replayed the events of the day in my head a few times and I'm still pleased.

What I did right:Got in a good breakfast, granola with fruit, then a peanut butter and honey sandwich. This was 3 hours before my wave start. About half an hour before my wave started I nibbled a Clifs bar, though I didn't have water with it.Paced the swim and the bike so I didn't feel knackered before starting the run. I knew it would be hot.Stayed on top of my hydration throughout.Kept my focus and a good mental attitude all race long, and never worried that someone passed me that "shouldn't have". I didn't care about my place, or even my time, particularly.Even during the slow parts of the run/walk I was still enjoying myself. I knew I could run more, and that I'd run across the finish line with a smile. Took a gel before getting into T2, then took 5 gels with me on the run to take just before getting to an aid station.

What I didn't do right, and what I learned:The spray on sunscreen mostly peels off with the wetsuit. I missed a few spots when spraying myself in T1, and you can see where. Try lotion sunscreen pre swim.I couldn't find my wetsuit lanyard coming up the ramp, then ended up holding stuff in my hands when the strippers were trying to take my suit off. Next time get the sleeves off before getting anything in my hands. I really need to practice getting the wetsuit off quickly.This was the first time doing a bag transition. Practice this before the next one.Practice running in bike shoes, pushing my bike by the saddle.I need to do more of my runs, particularly the long runs, during the heat of the day. Such as it is in Calgary. This will help me to better calibrate just how hard I can push.

The race organizers did an excellent job for a first event, considering how big it was. Yes, there are some things that could have been done better, but I think it was done good enough. All the volunteers that I dealt with were excellent!

I am so proud of what you accomplished on Sunday, Keith! You learned from your other races and turned every negative into a positive -- and ust look how it paid off! Congratulations on a well earned blister!!! Hee-hee!!! :) :)

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Discussion

The suggestion/rant about the WTC and it's "Access Club" and overfilled events is here. I still don't understand what's so hard about managing a wait list.

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"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people!" -- Randy Pausch

My question: Is pain a brick wall? You can discuss in the comments section of that blog posting.

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About Me

Still interested in the run bike swim, but the recovery part after is harder than ever. Getting interested in photography. Note that all contents of this blog are copyright Keith Cartmell from inception to current date.